Sending snippets of media content to a computing device

Abstract

Techniques include: providing media content to a computing device; waiting a period of time; determining that the media content has not been used; sending a snippet to the computing device, where the snippet corresponds to a portion of the media content that is executable on the computing device; and repeating waiting, determining and sending until the media content has been used or a limiting factor has been met.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by one or more processing devices, comprising:
 providing media content to a computing device;   waiting a period of time;   determining that the media content has not been used;   sending a snippet to the computing device, the snippet corresponding to a portion of the media content that is executable on the computing device; and   repeating waiting, determining and sending until the media content has been used or a limiting factor has been met.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sharing the snippet via a social networking service.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 creating a snippet from the media content; and   sharing the created snippet via a social networking service.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 enabling sharing a snippet associated with the media content via one or more social networking services; and   maintaining statistics on events associated with different sharers and different social networking services, the statistics relating to which sharers and social networking services result in sales of full media content associated with corresponding snippets.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 enabling sharing a snippet associated with the media content via one or more social networking services; and   presenting, with the snippet, an opportunity to purchase full media content associated with the snippet.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a different snippet is sent each time the sending is repeated, the different snippet corresponding to a different portion of the media content than was sent in a prior iteration of waiting, determining and sending. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that the media content has not been used comprises:
 storing a time at which the media content was sent to the computing device; and   checking for receipt of data indicative of use of the media content.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the snippet is a first snippet and the media content is first media content; and
 wherein the method further comprises:
 sending, to the computing device, a second snippet, the second snippet being different from the first snippet, and the second snippet corresponding to a portion of the second media content that is executable on the computing device. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 identifying the second media content based on the first media content, the second media content having at least one feature in common with the first media content.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first media content and the second media content are different types of media. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 ranking snippets of the media content; and   at each iteration of waiting, determining and sending, a more highly ranked snippet is sent.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the snippets are ranked according to one or more criteria designed to motivate use of the media content. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the snippet comprises more than one portion of media content, each portion of the media content comprising a time-slice of the media content. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the media content is first media content, and wherein the snippet comprises a first portion that corresponds to the first media content and a second portion that corresponds to second media content, the second media content being different from the first media content. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the second media content has at least one feature in common with the first media content. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the second media content is selected for association with the first media content based on a popularity of the second media content. 
     
     
         17 . A method performed by one or more processing devices, comprising:
 offering a snippet of media content for download, the media content being offered for a price, the price being dependent on one or more attributes of the media content, the one or more attributes comprising a number of shares available;   receiving, from a computing device, a request to purchase the snippet of media content, the request including a number of shares;   sending the snippet to the computing device in response to the request; and   restricting play of the snippet to the number of shares purchased.   
     
     
         18 . One or more non-transitory machine-readable media storing instructions that are executable to perform operations comprising:
 providing media content to a computing device;   waiting a period of time;   determining that the media content has not been used;   sending a snippet to the computing device, the snippet corresponding to a portion of the media content that is executable on the computing device; and   repeating waiting, determining and sending until the media content has been used or a limiting factor has been met.   
     
     
         19 . One or more non-transitory machine-readable media storing instructions that are executable to perform operations comprising:
 offering a snippet of media content for download, the media content being offered for a price, the price being dependent on one or more attributes of the media content, the one or more attributes comprising a number of shares available;   receiving, from a computing device, a request to purchase the snippet of media content, the request including a number of shares;   sending the snippet to the computing device in response to the request; and   restricting play of the snippet to the number of shares purchased.   
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 memory to store instructions that are executable; and   one or more processing devices to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising:
 providing media content to a computing device; 
 waiting a period of time; 
 determining that the media content has not been used; 
 sending a snippet to the computing device, the snippet corresponding to a portion of the media content that is executable on the computing device; and 
 repeating waiting, determining and sending until the media content has been used or a limiting factor has been met. 
   
     
     
         21 . A system comprising:
 memory to store instructions that are executable; and   one or more processing devices to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising:
 offering a snippet of media content for download, the media content being offered for a price, the price being dependent on one or more attributes of the media content, the one or more attributes comprising a number of shares available; 
 receiving, from a computing device, a request to purchase the snippet of media content, the request including a number of shares; 
 sending the snippet to the computing device in response to the request; and 
 restricting play of the snippet to the number of shares purchased.